On May 5, 4:28*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On May 5, 4:05*pm, Barry Salter wrote:





Hi folks,

Nobody appears to have picked up on this Press Release on the DfT site
that was posted on Friday:

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056 * * 01 May 2009

NEW CROSSRAIL ROUTE SAFEGUARDED

The Government today safeguarded a potential Crossrail route from
Maidenhead to Reading.

Whilst there is no current commitment to extend Crossrail out to
Reading, safeguarding provides additional protection against future
developments on the route.

Transport Minister Andrew Adonis said:

“Our current priority is to get on with the delivery of the Crossrail
Project as it is currently planned, but safeguarding would provide
additional protection against developments impacting on future
operational requirements.

"Safeguarding will also allow the line to be electrified in the future
and for Crossrail to be extended if a case can be made to do so.”

[Notes for editors snipped]

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Original URL:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=400344&New...

It's only safeguarding of course, which doesn't mean it's actually
going to happen, just that if it ever does it'll be a bit easier.

There have been plenty of comments on these newsgroups in the past
that getting Crossrail to Reading might not be all that it's cracked
up to be in certain quarters, what with a Crossrail train from Reading
into central London being slower that a fast non-stop service to
Paddington (where interchange with Crossrail would of course be
available).

I don't hold any particularly strong opinions on this issue (not that
my opinions on such things really matter!), but I'd be interested if
anyone could explain why extending Crossrail to Reading is widely held
to be so important.

Given the ELLX experience, I wonder if there might yet be a tradeoff
so that the service for people heading to Reading from intermediate
stations is dramatically cut, and existing stopping serices merely
replaced by Crossrail between Maidenhead and Paddington.